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Monday, February 4, 2013

Dangers of toxic hip implants used in Britain kept secret for years

A company sold toxic hip implants used in thousands of operations in Britain
knowing for at least three years that they were potentially dangerous, The Daily
Telegraph can disclose.

More than 10,000 Britons have
been fitted with the metal-on-metal implantsPhoto:
ALAMY

Depuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, continued to market “metal on
metal” hip implants after a leading British surgeon warned in emails to an
executive of the manufacturer that patients were suffering. The company’s own
data also allegedly disclosed that a relatively high proportion of the
artificial hips, which are supposed to last a lifetime, were failing after two
and a half years.

Tests concluded that they were significantly more likely to fail than other
models. Depuy continued to market the hips to British patients, hundreds of whom
are now having them replaced because they are suspected of causing blood
poisoning. The test results are not thought to have been shared with British
regulators or made public.

The disclosure over the warnings came in an American court case that is
considering whether patients should be compensated for the faulty implants.
Documents appear to show that Depuy was repeatedly warned about the impact on
British patients.

More than 10,000 Britons have been fitted with the metal-on-metal implants,
which are suspected of wearing down and depositing potentially toxic metal into
the bloodstream. The product was withdrawn from use in 2010, a number of years
after the warnings were made.

The documents raise renewed questions for British regulators. Last year,
following a joint investigation with the British Medical Journal, The Daily
Telegraph revealed that the health of British patients was being potentially put
at risk by European regulators who were prepared to license potentially
dangerous medical implants for sale in this country. They included
metal-on-metal implants manufactured to the same specifications as the
Johnson & Johnson product.